A Progression Ignition Question

[Don67Satellite]

Mulling over some of my winter project ideas....

For those here that are using Progression Ignition, I just had a curious question, in the wiring diagram, it shows, to my eyes, a keyed power source hooked to the positive side of the coil. In the instructions it states "The distributor will operate on a negative ground, 12 volt electrical system. It must receive full battery voltage during all operating conditions.
VERY IMPORTANT!!!"

Also the normal warning about the ballast resistor.

I am just asking where others ran this single power wire to, that will provide full battery voltage in, I assume, crank, start and run...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bee1971]

Simple

Gut the Ballast Resistor , and install your jumper wire inside for a factory type look

Problem solved

What ignition coil are they recommending with that system ?

 

[Bee1971]

Answered my own

What kind of coil should I use?
We recommend coils with a primary resistance less than 1 ohm. Most aftermarket high performance coils are fine. The distributor will automatically adjust dwell for the coil you use. Some examples are- MSD Blaster 2, Pertronix Flamethrower 2. For more modern square coil we recommend the MSD Blaster SS or FAST i91.

 

[Don67Satellite]

@Bee1971 I currently have a fairly new MSD Blaster High Vibration coil, I believe 0.7 ohms which should be fine.

So if I gut the ballast, replace resistor with a 10AWG wire between the terminals, that will give me full 12V on the blue coil wire in start/run?

It sounds right to me, but obviously if I am asking, I'm dumb.

 

[sam65]

I put one of these on my drag car it sat all winter in climate controlled shop and would not start after setting 3 months. No spark ,power where in needed to be. Put Accel 300 + back on and fired right up. Just sayin.

 

[Don67Satellite]

I put one of these on my drag car it sat all winter in climate controlled shop and would not start after setting 3 months. No spark ,power where in needed to be. Put Accel 300 + back on and fired right up. Just sayin.

Accel 300+ seems to be a generic name for a line of Accel products.

If you mean the coil I have (you didn't specify), it has so far been flawless for the past couple years, but yeah, any brand can go bad.

 

[Don67Satellite]

OK, I removed the resistor and added some 10awg and reattached the terminal ends. Hadn't done it before as the old coil wire was just the MSD keyed trigger and not its main power. Simple enough job and keeps the look.

 

[Bee1971]

I would assume the ignition box itself is built into the distributor , you don’t need a separate ignition box correct

Then the Distributor itself is powered off the positive side of the coil , hence the full 12V for that very reason

So now that you added the jumper wire within the ballast resistor , during cranking the ballast resistor is bypassed and should supply cranking voltage of 12-12.5V to the positive side of coil

Run position or driving you should now have 13-13.5V at the positive side of coil depending how good your charging system is

 

[Don67Satellite]

I would assume the ignition box itself is built into the distributor , you don’t need a separate ignition box correct

Then the Distributor itself is powered off the positive side of the coil , hence the full 12V for that very reason

So now that you added the jumper wire within the ballast resistor , during cranking the ballast resistor is bypassed and should supply cranking voltage of 12-12.5V to the positive side of coil

Run position or driving you should now have 13-13.5V at the positive side of coil depending how good your charging system is

Correct, no separate ignition box. Charging system is good. Thanks for the simple explanation.

 

[Don67Satellite]

**Update**

The Progression Ignition is installed and functioning properly.

Have had the car out for a couple shake down runs since doing a few upgrades over the fall months.

Really impressed with it and the ease of being able to change the timing on the fly, and of course the built-in ignition lock that disables the distributor. All crank, but no fire. Awesome theft deterrent.

Definitely happy with the purchase.

 

[MMorgan]

I have a progression distributor in my SBC. It has been amazing for 2 years. I just ordered one for my built 440 in my Coronet. I’m tired of taking apart to change curve. If nothing else, dial it in with progression, then mimic it with a traditional style distributor.